Sabres fall to Blues 3-2 in Overtime

Evan Rodrigues scores twice for the Sabres in loss

Evan Rodrigues scored twice in the third period for the Buffalo Sabres, but the comeback fell short on Vladimir Tarasenko's goal late in overtime. The St. Louis Blues defeated Buffalo 3-2 on Sunday night at Scottrade Center.

Brayden Schenn's goal, his 16th of the season, came just forty seconds into the game, and beat Robin Lehner with the first shot of the game to give the Blues a 1-0 lead. Joel Edmundson and Alex Steen were credited with assists on the game's opening goal. The Blues would record 16 shots on goal in the opening period, while Buffalo tested Jake Allen with just seven shots. Allen stopped all seven in the opening frame.

Each team took a minor penalty in the opening twenty minutes, with both teams killing each of them off. Justin Falk and Robert Bortuzzo each took interference minors.

Tarasenko made his presence known in the second period by drawing a penalty, and helping create the offense that led to the second goal of the night. The forward was hooked while on a breakaway attempt after an outlet pass in the Blues' defensive zone. Jake McCabe committed the penalty that may have saved a goal. Buffalo was able to kill of the penalty without much issue as well.

However, several minutes later Tarasenko used his speed and creativity to take the initial shot that was stopped. Paul Stastny was at the side of the net and was able to fit the puck into a small window between the goal post and Lehner. Tarasenko and Edmundson recorded assists on Stastny's seventh goal of the season.

Falk took a pair of penalties in the middle period for the Sabres, in addition to McCabe. Falk's first of the period was a roughing minor after having to defend himself against Schenn who was standing up for a teammate a big hit along the boards. His third penalty of the night was a hooking penalty late that did not result in a goal late in the middle frame.

Vladimir Sobotka was called for a minor penalty, and it resulted in a goal for the Sabres. Evan Rodrigues recorded his first goal of the season less than two minutes into the third period. Sam Reinhart and Evander Kane were given assists on the goal that halved the Buffalo deficit to 2-1.

Good puck movement, and a shot from the point by Marco Scandella resulted in the game-tying goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. Rodrigues scored his second goal of the night on a rebound shot from the face-off dot to beat Allen and tie the game at 2-2. Buffalo pulled Lehner in favor of the extra attacker, to help create the scoring chance. Ryan O'Reilly and Scandella assisted on the goal.

Tarasenko left his mark on the game with the winning goal with just thirty-six seconds remaining in the three-on-three overtime period. The goal came on the fourth shot on goal of the frame for St. Louis, and went in after Lehner tried to poke the puck off of the forward's stick. The puck went to the goaltender's left and into the net for the 3-2 win.

The Sabres return home to practice on Monday before hosting the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night at KeyBank Center. Faceoff on Tuesday is set for 7 p.m. with pre-game coverage on WGR starting at 6 p.m. with Mike Schopp and the Bulldog live at (716) Food and Sport!